I waited on the last reflection, just so I could put in some time to really think about the experience as a whole. Since the last post on March 9th, I have been at the game everyday enjoying each time I do play, even if I am trying to hide my phone as much as possible when I played in public. Like using Snapchat in public, I do not care to share with the world what app I am using at the moment. Because ultimately, I would rather not be using my phone when in public so I can talk to people, and take things in through my own eyes.

Though by March 19th, I have gotten to level 12 and have evolved a few Pokemon, in addition to feeding them a couple of their respective candies has made their CP’s over 400. With this, the list of Pokemon captured has grown substantially, and no longer fits within one page. Plus, I have received over 10 medals for the different accomplishments in the game.

No longer do I care to make jokes about this game for the fact I have a new found respect for it. Because there would be times when I was getting on “the heater” in regards to catching Pokemone you could say, when walking from my house to the gym. Then all of a sudden, one of my friends who I am with will start giving me a hard time.

Looking towards the future, it will be interesting to see if other games will come out that will be like this in a sense, or how will other companies use this style of game play as a stepping stone into another virtual world. The game exhibits a lot strong suits when arguing how good it really is overall, but like virtual reality itself, it has a long ways to go before getting into this industries prime.

IT HAS BEEN A BLAST PLAYING VIDEO GAMES FOR HOMEWORK, AND THANKS FOR THE TERM!!!

Daily update: In a short amount of time, it at least feels like, I am now level 8! Four levels in a little under a weeks time I am happy with. In addition new Pokemon include Ledyba, which is one I really do not remember, and Houndour! Now this one I do remember, and I can not wait to be able to evolve this Pokemon into Houndoom. Though kind of like Pikachu to Richue, I just do not want it to happen, because it is the first puppy to stay a puppy!

By finally getting to level eight I really wish I could still battle. None of my Pokemon at this point would even stand a chance going up against any player that could be found at a gym here in Eugene. I have always teased myself with the thought of getting into a battle, but never follow through with it. I can just tell it will be over in a matter of seconds, merely because of the differentials in CP’s in comparison of mine to my possible opponents, as well as their Pokemon are always further evolved than mine.

This leads me to my next point of discussion, will the next update allow players to battle outside of these gyms? It would be nice to say the lease, because it would allow more people to actually experience a large reason why so many people fell in love with this series: the Pokemon battles. Likewise, it would help add life to the game. By having friends to play with “in” the game could open up the door for designers to allow both of you and one’s friend to be present on screen while finding Pokemon together. Instead of always having to look at their respective phone to see their progress, one could open up their account to see what kind of Pokemon they have acquired throughout time.

Daily update: today I added some new Pokemon to the collection of what I own. For instance, Spinarak was one of them. It was annoying I tried to capture him a couple of times before, but never did. I also even added a Staryu! This was one of my favorite Pokemon as a kid, and it left me pretty content after capturing it. Lastly, I am passed level 6 now!

Today I was thinking about who I am, and what I represent in this game. Personally, I identity as male, and with this have a male character. Looks wise, I thought well my avatar needed a make over, and in the spirit of the fact I miss the sun, I gave my character a little extra color to his looks. Continuing, I started to think what do I represent inside the game outside of my image. Well that is, being a member of the blue team A.K.A. team mystic. With this, my avatar should not be wearing yellow, but instead blue seems to be the appropriate color! Plus having a black backpack would add a little swagger to the looks.

All this said, I find it interesting it is very hard to see other people’s avatars. It would be fun to see what others have done with theirs, and this would allow us gamers to see how people project into this cyber reality. If this be a person using a different gender than that they identify with, or even race. Understanding why people chose to use something different then what they personally identify with could go to show more about them to some degree, and at least give credit to their creativity. I do not know what it is, but i feel like every trainer who represents a gym looks exactly the same.

I have forgotten some of things you can, and can not do in this game. So with this, I am experiencing a bit of a learning curve for leveling up quicker. For example, like you want to throw the Pokeball into the inner circle, and spinning the ball can get you more experience points. I totally forgot too, there is a difference between lures, which can only be used a Pokestops, and incenses, that helps a trainer get more Pokemon in certain time period. For the last rookie mistake, I forgot how the process of evolving works tell the end of this recorded time period. If you are wondering, you transfer the Pokemon you want to the Professor, and you receive candies for that particular Pokemon, which can go to evolving it. Though all in all, this made a big difference for making me feel like I was making some progress in the game.

I started to think about it too, I should taking advantage of favoriting feature in the game. This way I could keep track of the Pokemon I wanted to keep, generally it was for the higher ranked Pokemon if I ever had more than one. Then as well organizing them in fashion based on their CP verse their Name or Health. Doing the little things, now I thought would be good so it would only enhance the future experience. Ensuring too, the best Pokemon in my possession.

In other news: today I had fun catching Pokemon in classes today, I bet a teacher does not want to hear that, but it gives a quick little refresher to a daily lecture. Also this game in class in retrospect is not that big of a distraction, because if no Pokemon are around then what is the purpose for playing? And on top of this fun endeavor, I earned a metal for catching 10-flying type Pokemon!

Oh boy the day has come, and I am playing Pokemon Go again. I never saw this day would come to be honest tell I saw the course syllabus. I honestly had to laugh a little, it was like life telling to give even video games a second chance. With a fresh mind towards it, knowing things had changed since I first started playing, I began on day one more than less. Like when I first started, I had fun!

To begin, it is nice where I live now Pokemon where in my place a couple of times today, where in comparison to my old place it never did. I am now (and hopefully this continues) blessed with something new that I never had before, resulting in it being more enjoyable to play the game. I like to think I have been granted the lazy trainer’s experience.

I took a second too, to look at the other small things like if I had any eggs I had started that I left, and what items were in my bag. I did this partially to see where I am at for starting purposes, so I can compare how much I did this time around to the first.

Before really catching new Pokemon I took a second to look back at my old ones, and quickly realized I did not have a lot from when I first played. So this would make things fun I thought, because in a new area this meant finding new ones a lot easier, plus the update that was released during my absences. Sure enough, the first Pokemon I saw I had not yet captured was a Sentret. In the first day too, I made it to level 5, and also caught a Natu, and Spearow. I would like to think this was a successful day for getting back into things to say the least.

I started playing this game when it first came out, due to the fact my roommates at the time were all about the hype. It was funny to see too how everyone else was reacting, and likewise how many people were playing. Too say the least, people were not trying to hide the fact that they were playing this new game that was sweeping the nation. Maybe it was because it was summer in Eugene, when much is very quiet here, or maybe it was because it allowed people to get out to enjoy Eugene’s trails. Furthermore, I will never forget the stories on Reddit of the people getting lost falling of cliffs, and so on. To me, it epitomized the addiction found in humans for their technological devices.

Back to my personal experiences though. Like I said earlier I did initially enjoy it, but lost interest pretty quickly. During the two weeks I first had the game it was fun to get out via the fact it was technology driven at moments, and in other instances I had a game to play that would change based on my location. When opening the game, you could find “Pokestops” everywhere, and gyms to conquer. Though, within this original period of playing the game I was never ranked high enough to take these on.

It was fun exploring different areas, or walking in certain ways because each area would have certain Pokemon. If not always had a new Pokemon I had not caught yet. It was fun seeing this childhood character again, but in somewhat of a more real version then playing cards, and even video games or movies. With this, the fact you could get eggs at Pokestops or for leveling up. Then one would have to walk a certain distance for it to hatch.

I could go on about everything I initially enjoyed, but it was all short lived. Simply due to the fact I could not stand being on my phone all the time when I was out on a nice sunny day. As well, having friends who were always playing. The game became a center for jokes in my book, and much of respect for it was gone. I could not get over the fact so many people began carrying portable chargers so they would always have battery to play the game. Oh yeah! It drained my battery all the time, and it was very annoying.